Today in the Rickson Interview: BJJ and the family unit - I don't work for the family. I work for the individual. When they become a better individual then they become a better family.

BJJ Legends: Family is the umbrella under which all that falls, whether it's children or even a police officer who's a father, a mother, as you noted. That's a very important structure, unit structure, in American society and other parts of the world. What role do you feel, within the family unit, Jiu-Jitsu can offer?

Rickson Gracie: Man, you tell me how children can become better children, how the mother can become a better mother, how a father, executive, police officer. They will always have something to learn and to improve with Jiu-Jitsu, individually. So I don't see the function in Jiu-Jitsu work in their relationships or the family itself.

I make the children become more respectful to their parents, more capable to control emotions, and more capable to handle pressure. So I make the father more confident, more peaceful, more empowered than he normally is if he don't have that kind of self-confidence. I make the mother more...

Everything can be transformed positively. So I don't work for the family. I work for the individual, and they become a family, and they become a better family.

I think by doing a good job in Jiu-Jitsu, they completely will fulfill that need, from police officers to mothers to children to executives and competitors. I think a good Jiu-Jitsu school can really present itself as a community service academy. So I feel very confident. A good Jiu-Jitsu school can provide a great service for the community as a whole.

Tomorrow: Rickson talks about making the transition from Jiu-Jitsu to professional MMA.

Today in the our Rickson Interview Series: What kind of BJJ community do you envision?

BJJ Legends: So when we left off, you were talking about the under-represented, under-served portion of the community. A large portion of the community is served by the current structure, but there is an element out there that is not top competitors, but the general person that wants to come into Jiu-Jitsu or the blue belt or even white belt that's starting to compete in Jiu-Jitsu, as an element of the community.

I'm curious also about the community at large, the place in which the businesses actually reside, what you see, if anything, as a responsibility of the Jiu-Jitsu practitioners, in particular black belts and instructors and school owners, have to serve the community at large.

Rickson Gracie: I think by doing a good job in Jiu-Jitsu, they completely will fulfill that need, from police officers to mothers to children to executives and competitors. I think a good Jiu-Jitsu school can really present itself as a community service academy. So I feel very confident. A good Jiu-Jitsu school can provide a great service for the community as a whole.

Tomorrow: Rickson discusses what role Jiu-Jitsu plays in the family unit.